Interview with Author L. Anne Carrington

My guest today is L. Anne Carrington. Hello! Welcome to Writing in the Modern Age!
It’s such a pleasure to have you here.
Can you tell us a little bit about your book? When did it come out? Where can
we get it?

The Marilyn Diaries was released in November 2013. It’s the fourth and final
book in my Cruiserweight Series. Marilyn Goren Klass passed away from cancer
when her son, Donovan, was in his teens. Now in his early thirties and a parent
himself, Donovan discovered a long unopened box while cleaning a garage
belonging to his father, Peter. He finds several volumes of diaries written by
his mother in the boxes along with some old photos, videos, and his baby book.
He learns many things about his parents’ marriage and his own childhood through
Marilyn’s words and mementos.

Donovan then gets an idea to write a
book about his family based on information gleaned from his late mother’s
writings and talking to people from both his family’s past and present. In the
interim, a long-buried secret is revealed after one of Peter’s wrestling
colleagues unexpectedly passes away.

The Marilyn Diaries in only available for Kindle on Amazon at present, but I am
working on getting a paperback version published in the near future.

Is there anything that
prompted your latest book ? Something that inspired you?

I introduced the Klass family in The
Cruiserweight Series’ second book, The Cruiserweight’s Daughter. Donovan
is a childhood friend of The Cruiserweight’s Daughter’s heroine, Autumn
Kerrigan. Readers learned more about Donovan in Klass Act, the series’
third book. While his mother was referenced in the aforementioned books, I
thought readers would like an idea of what Marilyn was like decades before her
death, hence the latest book.

Great! So, when did you know you
wanted to write? Or has it always been a pastime of yours?

I started writing as a teenager and
had my first article posted in a major newspaper at 17. I kept writing
throughout the remaining years of high school while also taking acting lessons.
I continued writing off and on, but mostly as a hobby, until the early 2000‘s.
My first novel, The Cruiserweight, was published in 2010.

Do you have any favorite authors?

I love Ann Rule. I think I’ve read
every book the woman’s ever written. Whether you’re a true crime buff or not,
her books grab you from the first chapter and keep you there until the final
word. I was influenced by books of many genres, from biographies to classic
fiction.

Do you write in a specific place? Time of
day?

During the day, at my desk. If I get
in the mood to write at night – especially late at night, which I’ve done on
occasion – in bed.

Are there any words you'd like to impart
to fellow writers? Any advice?

Believe in your talent. Write what
you know. Get feedback from fellow writers; they’re more likely to give you an
unbiased opinion than family and friends. Don’t think that if you’re not
published by one of “The Big Six," you’re going to be tagged a
“loser." Some of the best books I’ve read have come from small,
independent publishing houses. Network online - a lot. I’ve made so many wonderful
writer friends just from networking.

Here is the blurb for The Marilyn Diaries.

While helping clean his father’s
garage, Donovan Klass opens a long-forgotten box containing a collection of
videos, photographs and diaries belonging to his late mother, Marilyn. Was his
parents’ marriage ideal as Donovan believed? What stories will those mementos –
and an unrelated yet long-buried secret – reveal?

Here is an excerpt from The Marilyn Diaries.

June 16, 2014

My gosh, it’s been forever since I
had an opportunity to write in this little book! Better get used to my regular
absences, Diary; since Donovan’s arrival, I’m likely not going to have much
spare time to add updates in here.

I hadn’t felt well most of the weekend
of Peter’s birthday, but made the effort to keep up my spirits long enough to
attend a surprise baby shower Lois and Betsy threw for me May 9. I gave Peter
his gift the morning of his birthday during breakfast. He loved it, but I’m
convinced an engraved gold watch took a distant second to another (but
unexpected) gift he received when my water broke an hour later.

Donovan was born May 11 at 5:23 PM
at six pounds, six ounces and seventeen inches long. He looks like a miniature
Peter and has a full head of black hair. I am confident our little guy will be
a very handsome man someday.

Poor Peter; I never thought I’d be
capable of cursing, let alone used a lot of dirty words while giving birth. It
felt like I was passing a giant bowling ball! I’m surprised Peter has any hair
left, much as I kept grabbing it the entire time. I later felt guilty about
what I put him through in the delivery room, but he laughed off the whole
incident. “You were in labor, angel; it’s not like you did anything to me on purpose.”

Another milestone this morning:
Donovan smiled while I was changing him! Peter joked that it was gas (“You’d
smile too after a good fart”), but I’ll stick to seeing our son’s first actual
smile, no matter what it resulted from.

Some babies tend to be fussy at
times, but we rarely hear a peep from Donovan unless he’s hungry, lonely, or
needs changed. He’s so content that I find myself often checking to make sure
he’s still breathing.

On the other hand, Peter tends to
think every time the baby much as lets out a tiny whimper, he needs picked up.
I said that he’s going to spoil that child. His response?“Well, what are babies
for?” I don’t want to imagine how he’ll act when we have grandchildren.

Peter returns to work next week.
I’ll miss him so much! It was bad enough he was often gone during my early
stages of pregnancy; I’ll to have to adjust to his absences all over again.
Hopefully things won’t be so bad since I’m spending most of my time caring for
Donovan.

I heard something on the baby monitor;
Donovan may be awake. I better go check on him before Peter ambushes the
nursery yet again. Hope to write more soon.

Love, Marilyn

Author Bio

L. Anne Carrington is an author, freelance writer/journalist, and radio show
host whose previous work covered topics from fiction to news stories, human
interest features, and entertainment reviews. She wrote The Wrestling Babe
internet column for seven years, is a former music reviewer for Indie Music
Stop, former book reviewer for Free Press (an imprint of Simon and
Schuster), and pens several other works which appears in both print and Web
media. One of her freelance articles, An Overview of Causes of Hearing Loss
and Deafness, was bought by Internet Broadcasting Systems, a company
that co-produced NBCOlympics.com for the 2004 Summer Olympics in Athens and the
2006 Torino Winter Olympics in addition to being the leading provider of Web
sites, content and advertising revenue solutions to the largest and most
successful media companies.

In addition to the December 2010
publication of her bestselling novel The Cruiserweight by Night
Publishing and success of subsequent books in The Cruiserweight Series, Ms.
Carrington hosts The L. Anne Carrington Show on Spreaker Radio
Wednesdays at 2:00 PM Eastern.

Ms. Carrington spends time between
Pittsburgh, PA and Tampa, FL, continuing to write.

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